Every time my father looks at a dessert menu, he chooses panna cotta–he loves it! We thought we would debunk the idea that you can only get creamy panna cotta from a restaurant. It really is not hard to make at home!
First, we prepared a fresh blueberry sauce. All you need is a large skillet, blueberries, water, sugar and a squeeze of lemon. The sauce takes less than 15 minutes. (Any extra sauce is a tasty topping for ice cream.)
Next, we made the panna cotta. The star here is a vanilla bean. It’s a bit expensive but is worth it. (You could substitute 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract if needed.)
To make sure we get every bit of flavor out of that vanilla bean, we steeped the vanilla bean in heavy cream and honey for about 30 minutes. Bring everything to boil, cover, remove from the heat and walk away.
Once the cream has steeped, remove the vanilla bean and add the rest of the ingredients, which are gelatin and buttermilk. The buttermilk adds just enough tartness to balance out the honey and vanilla.
Assemble the panna cottas. Drop a tablespoon or two of blueberry sauce into the bottom of each glass or ramekin, then carefully pour the panna cotta mixture over it. Some of the sauce may mix into the panna cotta mixture…don’t worry about that.
Let sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes, and then refrigerate for 3-4 hours or until firm. Enjoy!
Ingredients
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Blueberry Sauce
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3cups (1 1/2 pints) fresh blueberries
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1cup water
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3/4cup sugar
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1tablespoon lemon juice
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Panna Cotta
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2cups whipping cream
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1/4cup honey
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1vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
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1/4cup water
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1envelope unflavored gelatin
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1cup whole-fat buttermilk
Directions
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1To make blueberry sauce, in 2-quart saucepan, heat to boiling blueberries, 1 cup water and the sugar over medium heat. Stir in lemon juice. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 10 minutes or until sauce begins to thicken, stirring occasionally and crushing some of the berries with back of spoon. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
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2To make panna cotta, in another 2-quart saucepan, heat to boiling whipping cream, honey, vanilla bean and seeds over medium heat. Remove from heat; cover and let cream steep 30 minutes to infuse vanilla flavor into liquid.
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3When cream is steeped, in small bowl, pour 1/4 cup water; sprinkle gelatin over water. Set aside.
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4Reheat cream mixture. Remove vanilla bean and seeds; add softened gelatin. Remove from heat; beat with whisk until gelatin is dissolved. Add buttermilk; beat with whisk until blended.
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5To assemble desserts, spoon small amount of blueberry sauce in bottom of each serving glass or dish. Carefully pour panna cotta mixture over sauce. Let stand at room temperature about 20 minutes. Refrigerate 3 to 4 hours before serving.
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